American singer-songwriter Miley Cyrus received plenty of backlash from her fans after she started promoting an upcoming Saturday Night Live appearance with tech tycoon Elon Musk.
The whole thing seems to be born out of a parody meme posted on Twitter, where Musk sits on a huge wrecking ball, in a reference to Cyrus' hit song. The picture was accompanied by ‘Alright Elon just… hear me out.'
Alright Elon just…. hear me out@elonmusk @nbcsnl @MileyCyrus
— Owen Sparks 🌎 (@OwenSparks_) April 28, 2021
For SNL: pic.twitter.com/DQVmjJBc06
Musk was quick to respond and said there might be something there, to which Cyrus responded that she would be down for that if Musk were up for it too, attaching an emoji of a rocket, moon, and Saturn.
#MileyAndMusk to the moon, Cyrus added.
🚀 @elonmusk I’m down if you are! 🌙 🪐 #MileyAndMusk to the moon! https://t.co/y2KJNAMpE1
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) April 29, 2021
What seemingly looked like an innocent exchange of jokes made Cyrus’ fans furious and sparked outrage on Twitter.
Delete this we will pretend that we didn't see
— 🖤 (@IStanMileyCyrus) April 29, 2021
no thanks we only want miley
— bobby. (@bawbbyshere) April 29, 2021
She has to promote the episode with him guys.....she has no choice. SNL is making her do it #MileyandMusk pic.twitter.com/bdqIkTsuHX
— 🇯🇲Aprille in April 🧜♀️ (@aprille876) April 29, 2021
Miley please you don’t have to pretend to like him
— lex (@cluelessgemini) April 29, 2021
Saturday Night Live drew criticism on social media after NBC announced it had picked Elon Musk as host for the 8 May show. Some of the cast members were confused with the decision and at least four of them publicly criticised the move.
The critics argue that inviting one of the richest men in the world to host the show when wealth inequality is rising might be not a good idea. Others still feel awkward and displeased with Musk’s remarks regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, with some accusing him of downplaying the coronavirus or spreading misinformation.